Playhouse Playmaker

Playhouse Playmaker is our series of programmes that offers professional playwriting support for ages 9 and up, as we look to develop and discover the best emerging talent from Oxfordshire and beyond.

Primary Playmaker is an exciting series of workshops for KS2, designed to improve literacy, develop storytelling skills and encourage children’s imaginations. This is a unique opportunity for pupils to write their own short play and understand the process which leads to a professional production.

A selection of the plays are performed by professional actors as part of our Young Players’ Festival.

Secondary Playmaker is a masterclass aimed at secondary schools, allowing them to explore all aspects of writing a play and bringing original ideas to life on stage

Young Playmaker is a series of weekly workshops for young writers aged 15 to 20, who are keen to write a short play. Led by professional playwright Renata Allen, participants will acquire the skills needed to develop your ideas, and create their first scenes.

Extracts of first drafts are performed as rehearsed readings for the Young Players’ Festival, while a selection of plays are performed by the Oxford Playhouse Young Companies in the Burton Taylor Studio at the end of the Summer Term.

Playhouse Playmaker is our professional Writers’ Attachment Programme, managed in association with Oxford Playmaker and led by award-winning writer and director John Retallack.

New and emerging playwrights are invited to submit their work to be considered for a place on this free year-long programme. Beginning in January each year, these sessions are used to work on writing techniques, with individual mentoring and feedback on their scripts.